A Newsletter From the Core-CT Project

April 2002

Getting Ready for Core- CT

As pop psychologists like to say, the only thing we know for sure is that things will change. Core-CT is sure to bring the most dramatic changes we've seen in years in terms of how we do our jobs. Right now, the Core-CT team is working hard to see that this change works well for all of us.

As the project progresses, agencies will become more and more involved in preparing for implementation. Readiness efforts will include training on new business processes and a new computer system, preparing hundreds of users for new software and the many new business processes Core-CT will bring. Other readiness efforts will be launched as well. These activities could not even occur, let alone be successful, without the close involvement of all concerned, especially agency decision-makers. Over the upcoming months, what kind of direction, support and help can agencies expect from the Core-CT organization?

Agencies have already named sponsors to act as a bridge between Core-CT and their own business operations. These sponsors remain the key link for all communications between their agency and the project. Now each agency is getting more direct attention and support through its Core-CT Agency Readiness Coordinator (ARC). The project has identified ARCs and they have already begun working with agencies. Each ARC will be assigned to work with a varying number of agencies on various agency readiness activities.

The ARCs will serve as the main points of contact for all project-related work. Some of their responsibilities include:

• Becoming knowledgeable about agency business processes and unique requirements, as well as about key changes coming as a result of Core-CT.
• Assisting other change management team members in communicating these changes to key agency staff through Process Workshops, tentatively scheduled for May for HRMS business processes. (Financials Process Workshop activities will take place later.)
• Getting to know you and your fellow future Core-CT users - your numbers, your skills and your needs.
• Conducting informal sessions or arranging for speakers to provide details about process changes, project status and other questions or concerns that agency personnel may have about the project.
• Taking your questions and ideas back to the central Core-CT change management group and ensuring that these items are addressed.

Each month, agency sponsors, along with their ARC, will evaluate their agency's progress towards readiness on a color-coded scorecard: green for items that are in good shape, yellow for areas with some concerns, and red for things that need urgent attention. At various times in the process, the raters will look at various factors, or readiness items, but the scoring will be geared toward questions like "Can the end users operate in the new environment? Are the new processes documented and are the tools in place? Has the required data been prepared for conversion into the new system? Is the post production support plan in place?"

Agency sponsors, their ARCs and the project directors will meet on a monthly basis to agree on a consolidated readiness progress assessment. The group will identify and address issues and concerns, as well as generate action items to address readiness items that are falling behind or coming up. About two months before the go-live date, the progress assessments truly become go-live readiness assessments, and the sponsors, ARCs and project directors will need to meet more frequently to track action items and readiness status.

Preparations for training are also underway. Your agency has already given the Core-CT team basic information about your current job function and which parts of Core-CT you will likely need to be trained in. These lists will be further refined and will form the basis of a user list which the change management team will use to begin scheduling training near the time of implementation. Using PeopleSoft training materials as a basis, Core-CT team members will develop the training curriculum and job aids for each process, then teach it in classes of 14 - 15 students, according to current plans. Training for Financials will take place between April and July of 2003 and training for HRMS will be in September and October 2003. Many different types of training are planned. Various training topics and formats will create a comprehensive Core-CT curriculum.

A Message from Comptroller Nancy Wyman

Keep Up the Good Work!

I'm proud of how hard everybody is working on Core-CT: the advisory committees, the team itself, the agency sponsors, and all of you who took part in Conference Room Pilot sessions. These sessions have had great success in documenting the gaps between our business processes and the PeopleSoft software. The sessions have also proved that the software handles the vast bulk of requirements, and that there were no real surprises among the gaps. Still, some difficult decisions will need to be made in order to limit system modifications and maximize system performance.

We are moving into a much busier phase of the project now. We now have a contract with Accenture for implementation assistance; we are making decisions on which modules and processes will be implemented first, and which agencies and branches of government will be in scope; we're talking more with agencies and thinking about things like training before our Financials implementation date of July 1, 2003. I know that you will continue to work as hard as you have, and continue to give your most thoughtful responses when called upon to do so by the team. With your help, we'll make Core-CT work for all of us.

It's Up To You - A Message from Barbara Waters

As we move closer to our July 2003 date for implementing the Financials component of PeopleSoft, the project team has begun to focus on agency readiness. Agency readiness is a critical success factor in having agencies' processes and organizational structures aligned to support implementation. The project's Change Management Team will assign agency readiness coordinators to work with you to prepare for needed changes in your organizations. You will be asked to:

• Review your processes - develop new tools and new ways of doing day-to-day activities
• Work with the project to prepare your users - some responsibilities may change, and people will need training
• Clean up historical data to prepare it for conversion into PeopleSoft

We will be asking you to identify staff that can assist in these activities. The project will pair your agency with a readiness coordinator who will work closely with you, getting to know your agency's mission and goals, and becoming an expert on your user population. The coordinators will serve as a two-way communications link between your agency and the project, and conduct ongoing evaluations of your agency's readiness to "go-live" in July 2003 (Financials) and October 2003 (HRMS). The evaluation process will yield a rating similar to the green, yellow and red readiness codes that were used during Y2K implementation. You will be hearing more about agency readiness in the coming months.

Core-CT is one of the most exciting and far-reaching changes I have seen in my career in public service. It affords us an opportunity to completely revamp the way we do business, not only to support the new system, but to make long overdue changes and eliminate cumbersome practices. We appreciate your continued support of this effort.

New Implementation Dates Planned

The Core-CT Project Directors have recommended to the Steering Committee a revised schedule for implementation of our new system. While this schedule has not been finalized, we wanted to share with you the current thinking in terms of timing for each of the Financials and HRMS implementations.

According to the current plan, six Financials modules would be the first components put into production, in July 2003: General ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, e-procurement and reporting would be implemented in this first phase. HRMS functions would be implemented three months later, in October of 2003. Functions covered by the initial implementation of HRMS would include the bulk of payroll, time and labor (corresponds in current system to time and attendance), benefits, human resources and reporting modules.

The second phase for HRMS would include competency management, training administration, self service, labor relations and career management. The target date for these implementations is summer 2004. A second phase of Financials would be implemented in the fall of 2004 which would include projects, grants, asset management, inventory, billing, and contracts.

As final decisions are made regarding timing and functionality, Core-CT Communications will keep you updated.

Why is the state implementing ERP?

From the Core-CT Project web site (at the address http://www.core-ct.state.ct.us/faq.htm)

Streamline government operations: eliminate redundant, non-value added tasks (like re-keying and reconciliation).

Facilitate better decision-making: give managers and end-users easy access to timely and accurate information.

Standardize, modernize technology: reduce the variety of computers, programming languages, database packages, etc. used in State government.

Eliminate redundant systems: eliminate systems that the agencies use to perform financial and administrative functions that the core system can and should perform.

Avoid replacing core systems piecemeal: remove the potential costly replacement of single major systems, which would lead to a new generation of nonintegrated systems

Contact Info:

Core-CT Project
Change Management Team
101 East River Drive
East Hartford, CT 06108

We want your feedback!

Contact the project at corect.change@po.state.ct.us  or call Bob King at Project Communications, (860) 622-2580. Or contact any of the project team leads listed on our website.

For more information on the project, see our web site, http://www.core-ct.state.ct.us

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